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Whisper

#byefelicia
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Daniel French​
[...]
man has been charged in the 2012 death of an 87-year-old woman whose body was found in the trunk of her Cadillac.
Daniel French, 56 was arrested Wednesday
[...]
Ohio resident Barbara Howe.
[...]
have charged French with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. The murder charge comes with death penalty specifications.

"The shear brutality and diabolical nature of this case is unparalleled in the history of Butler County and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible under the law," Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser
[...]
The indictment and subsequent arrest were part of a two-year investigation into the death of Howe, who was found dead in November 2012. The car she was found inside was parked next to a children’s playground
[...]
Investigators haven't released the cause of death.
[...]
grand jury had looked at evidence and heard testimony over a three-month period before they returned an indictment against French, according to the release from the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor decided to seal the indictment until Wednesday so police could apprehend French without raising his suspicions.

In September 2013, the Monroe Police Department told
[...]
they had a new person of interest in the case but it's not clear if French is that person.

For most of the past two years, police have said Howe's missing 3.31 carat oval cut diamond ring could be a vital clue in the investigation. While investigators wouldn't say whether they thought robbery was a motive in Howe's death, they said
[...]
that discovering the whereabouts of the diamond could reveal solid clues in the case.
[...]
unclear if police believe French played a role in the disappearance of the ring.

French was being held in Berea until he can be extradited back to Ohio. It's not clear when that will happen. Gmoser wrote that he expects the suspect to be held without bond pending his trial.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news...man-indicted-in-death-of-2012-of-barbara-howe
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missing ring
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Barbara Howe

press release from the Butler County Prosecutor's Office:

An Indictment has been returned by the Butler County Grand Jury against Daniel French, age 56, of Berea, Kentucky for Aggravated Murder with death penalty specifications, Aggravated Burglary, Aggravated Robbery, Tampering with Evidence and Abuse of A Corpse in connection with the death of Barbara Howe on or about October 28, 2102 in Monroe, Ohio. This indictment is the culmination of hundreds of dedicated man-hours by police detectives of Monroe, Ohio, and Middletown, Ohio, criminalists of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation under the authority of the Ohio Attorney General, the Butler County Coroner, the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office and the dedicated service of the Butler County Grand Jury which tirelessly received evidence and testimony over a three month period. The shear brutality and diabolical nature of this case is unparalleled in the history of Butler County and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible under the law. The indictment was filed under seal on December 10, 2014 to provide an opportunity to arrest Daniel French which has now been accomplished. He is presently being held by police authorities in Berea, Kentucky and is expected to be extradited to Ohio shortly where he is expected to be held without bond pending his trial. As in all cases with an indictment, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news...man-indicted-in-death-of-2012-of-barbara-howe
 
He's a very interesting looking character, I have to give him at least that. If he given the death penalty for this barbaric act of course the appeals would last into his 70's at least. By that time he could develop dementia and not even remember doing it!
 
Nov 05, 2015

A Butler County jury spared the life of Daniel French, the man convicted of killing Monroe’s Barbara Howe.

The jury deliberated for one hour and 20 minutes Thursday before reaching its recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the man found guilty of aggravated murder.

The jury had four sentences it could consider for French: death; life in prison without the possibility of parole; 30 years to life in prison; and 25 years to life in prison.

French, 57, addressed the jury before they began deliberations Thursday.

“What I did was awful and sitting through this trial has been awful for the Howe family,” French said. “I made a fateful decision that is out of character of me that has haunted me to this day … I ended up robbing and killing a lady, Mrs. Howe.”

“I stand before you, or sit before you, filled with great remorse and sorrow,” he said. “If I could change time I would in a heartbeat, but I cannot change time.”

“I became a monster that I believe was never there,” French said, offering an apology to Howe’s family. There was no reaction from them, but French’s two sisters sobbed as he read from a piece of yellow paper.

During the two-minute statement French also told the jury he never wanted a trial and entered guilty pleas to the charges he was permitted to.

“I asked for a life sentence,” French said, adding that the prosecution would not permit it. He ended his statement with, “I did not want more suffering or pain for the family. I thank you.”

Before the trial, French offered to plead guilty as charged with the promise he would be given a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, but Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser rejected that plea, stating that a jury should decide French’s fate.

French, a former maintenance man at Mount Pleasant Retirement Community, hatched a plan to rob Howe using the ruse of repairing her medical alarm system. Once he gained entry to her home, French shocked her with a stun gun, but when she didn’t go down, he choked her, then slit her throat with a double-edged knife.

He then put Howe’s body in the trunk of her red Cadillac and drove it to a Middletown apartment complex. To cover up DNA and the crime, French poured cleaning supplies and vacuum clean debris on Howe’s body before walking to Walmart and calling a cab.
https://www.daytondailynews.com/new...or-death-monroe-woman/EJI7xYmUxNHYKdgqGNmOFL/
 
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